Alabama A&M releases documents provided to SACS in inquiry

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Alabama A&M University Monday released nearly 300 pages of documentation it has provided the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, a regional accrediting agency that is reviewing A&M's policies and procedures.

The 292 pages provided to The Times on Monday after two Open Records requests shed little light into the ongoing review.

SACS updated A&M on that review Friday, saying it had found the school in "significant noncompliance" with SACS Principles of Accreditation. The accrediting agency said it would be sending a team to visit campus to evaluate A&M's compliance.

A&M President Dr. Andrew Hugine told The Times he "welcomes" such an inquiry.

Virtually all of the information regarding individuals in the Monday A&M document release was redacted.

"Please note that certain information included in the university's response has been redacted because it relates to specific personnel information and/or records or pending and/or threatened litigation," A&M attorney Angela Debro wrote in a cover letter.

A&M's Feb. 14 response to a Jan. 19 inquiry from SACS consisted of a 18-page letter signed by Hugine and addressed to Donna Wilkinson, vice president of SACS who has since retired.

There was also a three-page letter from Hugine dated March 8, along with six attachments to address follow-up questions from SACS.

The bulk of the A&M response is made up of various school policies and procedures, organizational charts, calendars and a 45-page contract worth $4.86 million with Aramark, dated Feb. 10, which outsourced facilities management, groundskeeping and custodial services.

Among the highlights of the non-redacted aspects of A&M's response was information regarding the FBI investigation reported by The Times last October. The original SACS complaint cited two articles by The Times reporting on the investigation by the FBI and a federal grand jury.

Questions about the FBI investigation were not included in SACS response last Friday and apparently had been answered to the organization's satisfaction.

"Neither the university nor the board of trustees has received any information to indicate that the federal investigations reported in the media are directed at the university," the February letter to SACS said. The letter went on to say that the A&M Research Institute was not part of a federal investigation.

However, an A&M vice president, Wendy Kobler, is quoted in an Oct. 31 article in The Times confirming the investigation at the research institute. And in a Nov. 18, 2010 article, Odysseus Lanier, president pro tem of the board of trustees, told The Times, "We have to let this FBI investigation play out."

The school also included the original bylaws and articles of incorporation for the research institute as well as multiple amendments and revisions to those bylaws and articles of incorporation. Those changes are included to document the confusing relationship between the school and the research institute.

That battle has been playing out since last year and the trustees, at their most recent board meeting in February, voted for a 30-day negotiating window with the research institute to resolve the differences or perhaps dissolve the institute altogether.

No resolution between the school and the research institute has yet been reached.

All discussion about a possible conflict of interest concerning Lanier and his defense contracting company's contract with the research institute was also among the redacted material. Lanier has repeatedly said there is no conflict. SACS guidelines prohibit a trustee from making money off the institution where he serves.